UKWAL Belgrave Harriers UK Women's Athletics League Results & Reports2007: Match One, Wigan

The power of ten

Only ten Belgrave athletes were able to include a trip to Wildest Wigan in their competition diaries - and the team manager's first job was to work out how 50% of the events could be covered. Failure to do this not only means being barred from the league for the rest of the season - it means an automatic drop right through all divisions to the UKWAL qualifying match at the end of the year! But not only was this penalty avoided, the magnificent ten who were there, including Hannah Douglas who had been ill during the preceding couple of days, doubled and tripled up their performances to bring the team in 6th at the end of the match - just 2.5 points off 5th. That was some achievement.

Good points came our way in the opening track event - the 400m hurdles - where Hannah was close to her season's best - and Jodie Favell made her Belgrave début. Sarah Gailey started her afternoon's work with a well run 800m and Jacqui Loney and Belinda Heil began their tour of the throwing events in a high standard hammer competition. But points gained here were soon negated by the fact that we had nobody in the 100m (or later 200m) and no pole vaulters.

Michelle Nestor was our solitary long and triple jumper and she partnered Hannah in the high jump. Second and 5th places came our way in the 400m thanks to Susan Bovill, running a nifty 55.45, and Sarah Gailey. Gradually the team places settled down with the Belles hovering in 6th or 7th spot.

The 3000m saw a 1-2 from Birhan Dagne and Sarah Murphy and when this was followed by the sprint hurdles where multi-eventers Hannah and Jodie were back in action, we gradually began to feel that a place above the relegation line might be possible.

Catherine Bryson front ran a 1500m where she built up a lead of 30m, only to be run down on the last lap so that she entered the finish straight with a Team Southampton athlete right on her shoulder. No trouble though, as Catherine had enough in hand to kick successfully for the line, and with Sarah Murphy collecting another middle-distance second place the team was now battling with Havering Mayesbrook for 5th team position. But again our lack of sprinters meant that the makeshift 4x100m quartettes were up against it and although the long relay girls fared better, we had to settle for sixth overall.

Assuming we can coax a few more athletes out for matches two and three at Eton and Rugby we should be able to hold on in division two for 2007.

Results. 100m: no competitor. 200m: no competitor. 400m: 2 S Bovill 55.45; 5 S Gailey 62.10. 800m: 4 S Gailey 2:18.19. 1500m: 1 C Bryson 4:36.93; 2 S Murphy 5:03.01. 3000m: 1 B Dagne 10:03.06; 2 S Murphy 10:33.00. 100mH: 1 H Douglas 14.45/?; 4 J Favell 16.60/?. 400mH: 1 H Douglas 60.45; 2 J Favell 66.69. HJ: 7 H Douglas 1.55; 3= M Nestor 1.45. LJ: 8 M Nestor 4.66. TJ: 5 M Nestor 10.37. PV: no competitor. SP: 7 B Heil 9.54; 6 J Loney 8.36. DT: 5 J Loney 33.73; 4 B Heil 27.69. JT: 6 J Flavell 28.20; 7 S Gailey 10.64. HT: 6 J Loney 40.33; 3 B Heil 36.66. 4x100m: 8 Belgrave H (J Flavell, H Douglas, M Nestor, S Bovill). 4x400m: 4 Belgrave H 4:06.5 (S Gailey 62.3, J Flavell 64.2, C Bryson 62.4, S Bovill 57.6).

Teams. 1 Windsor SE&H 237; 2 Rugby & Northants 175; 3 Marshall Milton Keynes 165; 4 Team Southampton 147; 5 Havering & Mayesbrook 127; 6 Belgrave H 124.5; 7 Wakefield H 109.5; 8 Wigan &D 82.

Below left: Jodie Favell battles with a Havering Mayesbrook athlete on leg two of the 4 x 400m. Right: Susan Bovill's 55.45 in the individual event was followed up with a sterling last leg in the relay. Pictures by Pat Mead

Restored from the club's earlier website, belgraveharriers.com, and published here as originally written.